Georgian arrested by occupation forces receives preliminary detention
Mghebrishvili was arrested on July 3 near the administrative boundary line in central Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The citizen arrested by occupation forces in central Georgia on July 3 has received preliminary detention, extending the unlawful restriction of his freedom, the State Security Service of Georgia has confirmed.
Kvicha Mghebrishvili, 45, has been sentenced to two months of preliminary detention as the de-facto authorities of the Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region allege he crossed the "state border" to collect bats wanted by the Tbilisi-based Lugar laboratory.
Mghebrishvili, a local of central Georgia's Mejvriskhevi village, was initially moved into a two-month quarantine following his arrest, which ended on July 17. He was arrested near the administrative boundary line separating the occupied region from Georgian-controlled territory.
Moved to Tskhinvali, the central city of the region, details of his arrest were later released to the family. Meanwhile the Georgian authorities notified the European Union Monitoring Mission hotline and said "all instruments" had been activated to free the citizen.
The de-facto Security Committee of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali alleged Mghebrishvili was "interested in bats that live in the villages of Artsevi and Ghromi in Gori municipality". They also accused the Lugar laboratory (formally the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research) of "showing interest" in bats of the region for research purposes.
Responding the allegations, the Head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze said on Saturday the "information is a lie, a provocation" by the occupying authorities. Gamkrelidze said bat samples were always collected by relevant lab staff for its research.
All tools of the Georgian government as well as its international partners are involved in efforts to return the citizen shot and arrested by occupation forces last week, prime minister Giorgi Gakharia told local media on Saturday.
The so-called security committee of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali reports a Georgian citizen who ‘illegally crossed the so-called border’ on July 3 was going to catch bats in Russian-controlled territory.
A European Union Monitoring Mission release on Sunday confirmed "extensive use" of the mission's hotline regarding the detention and alleged shooting of a Georgian citizen by de-facto authorities of the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on Saturday.
A Georgian man arrested by occupation forces near the administrative line bordering the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region earlier this month has been placed under quarantine.
Khvicha Mghebrishvili, 45, a local of central Georgia's Mejvriskhevi village, who was arrested by occupation forces near the administrative line bordering occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) on July 3 has been sentenced to three months of pre-trial detention by a so-called court of the occupied Tskhinvali region.
Georgian officials have expressed their concern that Georgian citizen Khvicha Mghebrishvili has been recently sentenced to three months of pretrial detention by a so-called court in the Russia-occupied Tskhinvali region.